Saving the World: the Impossible Quest
by pursuit of dorkyness
Summary: The world is in danger - again. And as usual, Maximum Ride has to rescue it. But this time, she's not alone. The Flock joins forces with Percy Jackson and his friends. What happens when the fate of the human race is in the hands of a bunch of teenagers?
1. Only Hope

**A/N: Okay. Set after THE LAST OLYMPIAN but before FANG. I uploaded this, but then I realized I made a mistake so I took it down. I spazzed out for around 20 minutes. True story.**

**Please forgive me for any mistakes. :) Doughnuts would be grand, but reviews are just as good.**

**Thought: The idea for this story was conceived more than a week ago. But this chapter itself was written less than an hour ago. Philippine elections today. +_+  
**

* * *

Zeus drummed his fingers lightly; the sound echoing in the near empty restaurant. Poseidon's eyes were focused intently on him. Everything was in his hands now. At the end of the day, it would be his decision. Everyone else had already cited his opinion. The decision was unanimous, but Zeus still had to speak.

They were an odd sight – twelve men and women (each one exuding an air of regality), gathered around a small table. They were far from inconspicuous; the Mist being their only security blanket. Olympus was a much more appropriate location. Heck, even the demigod camp would have been suitable. But the gods and goddesses had to bend this time. They had to accommodate the wishes of the man sitting across from Hades. The man; a mere mortal, could not enter their world. He was different from most mortals – he too, could see past the Mist. That was how he found them, so he said. So they had agreed to meet at the quaint restaurant. He had things to say – important things.

The situation was getting worse, he said. The Olympians – no matter how capable – needed assistance this time. Though true, they _had _won the War, now, they had different enemies. Their half-blood children would not be enough. They needed the mutants. And the mutants needed the demigods. Neither could succeed without the other. It was their only chance.

Jeb Batchelder cleared his throat. "My Lord?" he inquired.

All heads turned towards the god of the sky. Zeus watched the occupants of the table. Athena's gray eyes were shrewd. She understood the situation; unlike the others. Zeus sighed, seeing his siblings' faces. "Fine," he said, finally. "We will work with you."

Jeb was pleased. They had agreed! Now it was only a matter of convincing Max. Gods, that would be a challenge.

"We'll meet once more in a week," Poseidon said. "Make sure those bird kids know what they're up against."

"Oh, don't worry about them," Jeb assured him. "They've seen worse."

Ignoring his remark, Zeus acknowledged Dionysus. "Send word to camp. Get Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood. If we're going to be gambling for our lives, we might as well bet with our best."

Mr. D nodded curtly. He didn't enjoy being ordered around. But he knew the urgency of the situation. With one last look around the table, he got up and walked out of the restaurant. The other gods followed suit; leaving behind Poseidon and the scientist.

Leaning forward, Poseidon muttered under his breath. "We'd better not regret this."

Jeb smiled wearily. "This is our only hope, trust me."

"If my son dies..." Poseidon trailed off ominously. There was an edge to his voice. The green in his eyes was threatening. If Jeb was afraid, he didn't show it. He was used to threats. They were meaningless to him now, even coming from a god.

"If your son dies," he responded. "Then we all do."

* * *

**Well? Wajathink? Huh? Please review. *bats eyelashes* Thank you! I know it's short. Don't worry. It's just the intro.  
**

**- Dorky out!  
**


	2. If I had nickel

**A/N: **Okay, your review seriously made me incredibly happy. I only got three, but that was good enough for me. If you want me to continue, just keep on reviewing. Also, when I wrote this chapter, I was on a high from the happiness your reviews brought me. So, if it sucks, gosh, I apologize. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I'm sorry if it's weird or anything. I did my best.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Insane thought:** There is a small, wooden dinosaur stuck to my TV. It's green. It came from a party giveaway. :)

**

* * *

Max**

I bit my lip nervously. I hate car rides. Too cramped. Can't escape because you're moving. Trapped. I felt like puking. As soon as the car stopped, I would make a mad dash for the door, for sure.

"Relax," my mom said, smiling encouragingly. I tried to smile back. Beside me, Fang took my hand. Instantly, I felt better. I leaned my head against his shoulder, smelling his Fang-smell.

Nudge was looking out the window, taking in New York City. We'd been here before but this time, we were able to actually see the sights. Sort of. She faced me, her brown eyes full of questions. "Where are we going, again?"

"Good question," I said, turning towards my mom. Her cheeks flushed. For a moment, I felt guilty, but she'd been very vague about the details. So I had a reason to be suspicious.

"Jeb said he needed your help," she began. I scoffed involuntarily. Despite everything we'd been through (and despite the fact that he was my dad), I still didn't trust Jeb. There was too much history for me to forget everything we'd been through and run into his arms. No freaking way.

"He said it was really important."

I shook my head and muttered something under my breath. My mom exhaled, evidently exasperated. "Look, Max. I don't know much more than you do, okay? He said to meet him at this restaurant. There are some people we need to meet."

"How do we know they aren't from Itex? Or...or...that they're not working for Mr. Chu? How do we know they can be trusted?"

"We don't," Mom answered tersely.

My jaw clenched as I let go off Fang's hand and moved closer to the car window.

_Your mom is right, Max._

Ahh. Of course. _Hey, there, Voice,_ I thought, with as much contempt as I could muster. _Nice to hear from you again. _

Confused? Yeah, I have a voice in my head. Oh, don't you? No? Really? Well, you probably don't have wings either. So, there.

_Give your mom a break. She's doing the best she can. _

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, whatever," I murmured. Fang arched a brow at me. I smiled sheepishly and shook my head.

_Now, just a little heads up about where you're going._

Finally! The Voice was saying something _useful. Yes, almighty Voice? What is it?_

_I'm going to have to ask you to keep an open mind. Be prepared. Everything is not what it seems. _

I rolled my eyes. Thank you, Confucius. Still...what did the Voice mean, exactly?

_It means we have to trust them, Max. _

I nearly jumped at the intrusion. But this time it was Angel.

_Trust who? _I asked, in my mind.

_The people we have to meet. We have to take a leap of faith._

My eyes met Angel's. Her face appeared impassive. Then her expression changed to confusion. After a while her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. "Oh my gosh," she murmured.

_Angel? You okay, sweetie?_

She hadn't moved. Gazzy had noticed too. "Angel?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Angel didn't answer. She didn't have to. The car slowed down and the driver pulled up in front of a small pizzeria on the corner of a deserted street.

"We're here."

_Well, huzzah. _

_

* * *

_

When we got inside, Jeb was there to greet us. "Max!" he exclaimed. "You came!"

"Didn't have a choice," I muttered as he attempted to pull me into a hug. I dodged it easily and looked around. There weren't too many people in the restaurant. In fact, there were only a few. And they were all at one table. I felt my stomach doing uneasy flips. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Val," Jeb said, hugging my mom. "Uh...come this way."

He led us toward the table and I did a quick scan of all the possible escape routes. Better paranoid than dead, I always say. Then I turned my attention towards the occupants of the table. There were twelve of them, and they were some of the weirdest people I'd ever seen (and coming from me, that's saying something).

There was a tall man wearing a suit, sitting at the head of the table. He had salt-and-pepper hair that reached his shoulders. He was good-looking, but he looked tired. It was too soon for me to decide whether I liked him or not.

The woman to his right looked like she came out of a movie. She was pretty. Her long brown hair was tied in a braid, resting on her shoulder. She was wearing a simple, white dress. She gave me a sweet smile and I averted my eyes quickly. I'm not getting friendly just because you look nice, got it? _I know. I know. I'm _so _amiable. _

The woman next to her was wearing a gold dress. Her hair was tied up with dried grass. _WTH? _She looked friendlier than the other woman though, so that was a good thing, I guess.

Next to the man in the suit, was another man. He was wearing casual clothes. Namely, a Hawaiian polo and Bermuda shorts. Very chic, if you ask me. His sea green eyes were very friendly; and I actually felt myself smile. So far, he was the only remotely decent person here.

The man next to him was the definition of depression. He was wearing all black. He looked even darker than Fang. But he looked absolutely miserable. Like all the happiness had been sucked out of his life. _Pal, I know how that feels. _

The rest of them were just as odd. One looked handicapped; deformed. Another one was huge. Seriously. Looking at him gave me the chills. He looked like he wanted to beat me up. And for the first time in my life, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to beat him. His black leather jacket screamed "Imma kick yo butt" and his shades covered his eyes. Still, I was willing to bet he was glaring at me.

There was another woman, and I swear, she was just about the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen. Her smile was dazzling, and her eyes were hypnotic. Her hair was...indescribable. It seemed to be a mixture of colors all at the same time. It seemed to be...changing; transforming. Blond...brown...black...and..._red. _Dangerously red. I glanced at Fang. He was gaping at her, totally mesmerized. _Not good._

Sitting next to her, was another man. He was younger than the rest; maybe nineteen or eighteen and he was incredibly good-looking. He had sandy, blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. He was leaning back carelessly, his feet propped up on the table. He winked at me and I felt my cheeks flush.

The girl sitting across from him looked at him disapprovingly. She was younger than me, to my surprise. She had auburn hair and silver eyes. _Silver? _She looked at me and nodded affably. When she looked at Fang, however, I could have sworn her eyes narrowed.

Gray eyes met my brown ones as I looked the last woman at the table. She was wearing a simple dress and her long black hair was tied up. She nodded at me, rather than smile. Well, nodding is the best way to acknowledge someone, I guess. Not as welcoming as a smile, but still polite.

Lastly, there was a chubby man. He looking at us like we were dirt.I wasn't surprised. I'd gotten used to that look. What I wasn't used to, were his purple eyes. Umm. Contacts? Didn't look like it.

"Please," said the man at the head of the table. "Sit."

I realized he was talking only to me. Everyone else was already seated. _Right. _My cheeks grew redder, as I took my seat next to Fang._ Now, regain dignity by putting on badass face._

"Max," Jeb said. "We have something very, very important to tell you, okay?"

I glared at him. I hate it when people treat me like a little kid. "Okey dokey, artichokey," I said, with mock innocence in my voice. I heard Total sniggering. Jeb's jaw clenched. If there's anything more fun than annoying a possibly evil scientist who also happens to be your father, let me know. I'll have to try it. This was priceless.

"Maximum, I'm serious. You have to pay attention. This is a very delicate matter."

Wow, okay. He called me Maximum. If I had a middle name, I bet he'd have used it too. Talk about lame. You can't pull the _daddy_ act on me, Jeb. Even if you _are _my biological father.

"Sure. Okay," I relented. I crossed my arms over my chest. An uncomfortable silence settled in the room. "Well? We're waiting."

For a moment, Jeb looked flustered. He looked helplessly at the chubby man.

"They're on their way," the man said. Jeb nodded at him. "Umm...just...wait a little longer, Max. We're waiting for someone...some...people."

"Figures," the huge, freaky-looking man said. "The idiot centaur doesn't know how to get here."

"Patience is a virtue, Ares," the gray-eyed woman warned.

_Ares? Centaur? What the heck? _The names were familiar. I felt like I'd read about them before, or seen them on TV._ But why would...?  
_

I turned to Angel for help. _Angel? Any idea...?_

_Sorry, Max. Just...just hold on. They'll tell us in a moment. _Her face was calm. She was thinking about something, I could tell._  
_

"Finally!" the man in the Hawaiian polo said. He was looking at something behind us. Grinning, he called, "Percy!"

Behind us, I heard the door to the restaurant open. There were sounds of shuffling feet. A _lot _of feet. That was odd.

_Max._

Ugh. There goes that dang Voice again. _Yes? _I inquired.

_Remember what I said? Keep an open mind._

_Yessiree, _I replied.

I turned around to face the newcomers. And I was met with two teenagers...and two of the weirdest hybrids I'd ever seen. At first, they seemed normal...in a way. Then, my vision got a little blurry and I internally panicked. Genetically speaking, the Flock has excellent vision. When I was able to focus clearly again, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

_Holy (insert swear word of choice here)._

_

* * *

_

**Percy **

"Chiron, what do you mean _different?_"

I was confused. Okay, that's very common, I know. I mean, I've got ADHD and I'm dyslexic. But this time, Chiron really wasn't making sense. Different? How could anyone be more different that me? I'm a demigod, for goodness's sake! As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats a half-breed. Half-god. Half-mortal.

"Percy, we're almost there. Alright? You'll understand. Just...just...wait, okay?"

I could tell Chiron was getting annoyed. I didn't blame him. I'd been bugging him with questions since we left camp. Even Grover had stopped talking to me. Annabeth's head was resting on my shoulder and we were holding hands. I sighed.

From the rearview mirror, Argus snuck a glance at me. Well, it was more than _one _glance. But that's just Argus being Argus.

After what seemed like an eternity, we pulled up in front of a restaurant on an unfamiliar street. "Weird," I murmured. I'd been living in New York for as I could remember. How could I not know where we were?

"Percy." Annabeth was waving her hand in front of my face.

I said something really smart like, "Wha?"

Annabeth laughed. Extending her hand, she helped me out of the car. Okay. That was seriously messed up. Shouldn't _I _be the one helping _her_?

When we got inside, the first person I saw was my dad. He looked really happy to see me. "Percy!"

I grinned. I hadn't seen him since the end of the War. I looked around the table. Most of the people, I already knew. However, at the end of the table, were a few unfamiliar faces. There was a man and a woman. The man looked friendly enough; at least not the type to be wary of - yet. The woman seemed reasonably nice. Her face betrayed no emotion as she looked us over. There was a dog. I was probably just imaging it...but I could have sworn I heard him say something about me. That's insane, I know. But he said something like, "What's so special about _them?_" _Oh, you have no idea, _I thought.

Then there were the six kids. They didn't look too different. They were tall. They were all wearing windbreakers despite the fact that it was a little stuffy in the restaurant. And they were sort of dirty; like they'd been on the run. But that was hardly anything to be shocked about, right?

"Sorry we're late."

I turned around to find that Chiron was back in his centaur form. Grover was in his satyr form too. Glancing back at the table, I wasn't surprised to see that the strangers looked positively freaked out. Their eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets. Except for two of the kids – the tall, dark boy and the small, blond girl. The little girl looked like she been _expecting _it. But really, who expects half-humans? The boy looked at me with a deadpan face. But I could see in his eyes that he was profiling me. He wasn't sure whether to trust us or not. _Huh. Well, that's new. _

"Chiron!" Mr. D ushered us to our places at the long table. I felt awkward, wedged between Grover and Annabeth, not knowing what to do.

After a long pause, my dad spoke up. "Percy," he said. "Uh...there are some things we need to talk about. But first, umm. You should probably meet..."

He trailed off and I looked up. He was looking at the unidentified man.

"Oh," the man said. "Right, right. Umm. First of all, I'm Jeb Batchelder."

"Hi," I said. "I'm Percy Jackson."

He held out his hand and I shook it awkwardly.

"This is Dr. Valencia Martinez," he continued, gesturing towards the woman next to him. She flashed me a small smile and I returned it.

"This is her daughter, Max."

He was referring to the eldest girl. She was tall. Her brownish-blond hair lay in a tangled mess that reached her shoulders. She didn't smile, so I just nodded at her.

"Max, maybe you could introduce yourselves..." Jeb trailed off, willing Max to speak.

After looking us over again, she said, "Fine." She turned to the other kids and nodded encouragingly at them. It was clear who called the shots.

"I'm Angel," the small, blond girl said. She smiled, showing her teeth and I couldn't help but notice the slight resemblance she held to Annabeth – when she'd been younger, that is.

Right on cue, Annabeth spoke up. "I'm Annabeth. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, Annabeth," Angel said. Then she looked at the boy sitting next to her. He had blond hair, like hers and they both had the same eyes.

"I'm the Gasman," he said, shrugging.

"Gasman?" Grover laughed. "Seriously?"

The boy's face was indeed serious. Dead serious. "Seriously."

Grover's face fell slightly. I could tell he was embarrassed. "This is Grover," I said, trying to cover up for him. I only made it worse though. Drawing attention to Grover, everyone looked at him and stared. He looked down and coughed, mortified.

"I'm Nudge," a dark-skinned girl said. Nudge? Gasman? Were these kids fooling around with us or something? I was starting to get a little miffed.

"Oh, we're not lying," Angel said. I blinked, taken aback. _Okay. Freaky. It's almost as if she can read my mind._

"I can," she said.

_Whoa. Freakier. I'm not saying these things out loud, am I? I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm just saying this in my mind. AM I?  
_

"No, you're not saying them out loud," she said. "I can read people's mi—"

"Angel," Max murmured, shaking her head. Quickly, Angel smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at me. "Never mind."

Okay, I'm dyslexic, yeah. And I've got ADHD. But, I'm not stupid. Something was up. These kids were...weird. They were...different. Oh, right. _Different. _I turned around to look at Chiron. His expression read, "Told you so."

"I'm Iggy," another boy said. He was the tallest of them all. And he was the fairest. If the walls had been white rather than maroon, he would have easily blended in. He had strawberry blond hair and pale skin. His eyes were blue, but they looked sort of glazed over. It was almost as if he was...

"I'm blind," he said, responding to my thought. _Oh. _

"Oh." Annabeth said it the same time I thought it.

All eyes were on the last boy. He was wearing all black. It was a hilarious contrast to my orange Camp Half-blood shirt. His hair was long, and it reached his shoulders. Kind of like Nico di Angelo's hair, when you think about it. His eyes were just as dark. Finally, he looked up. "I'm Fang," he said. "'Sup?"

Fang? Okay, seriously? Fang. Nudge. Gasman. Who _are_ these people?

Annabeth, on the other hand, gasped. Her eyes widened. "You're Fang?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She knew this guy? For a second, I became a little protective. "Fang? As in...the blog?"

Blog? What blog? Unfortunately, the world wide web is not my forte. _Dyslexic, here, people! Hello?_ Annabeth had better luck with these things though. She managed to riddle out websites and books and everything else I never took any interest in.

"Fang's blog?" Annabeth's voice was soft, and stunned. Her reaction was nearly identical to the way she acted when Athena had asked her to help the Olympians rebuild Olympus: total amazement.

The dark boy – Fang – looked amused for a moment. Then he nodded.

So apparently, he's some sort of celebrity, now?

"Oh, so you know each other?"

Jeb could have been asking about doughnuts or the weather or the latest episode of Glee. His tone and facial expression completely ignored the fact that the rest of us were completely oblivious.

"No, I...I...Fang has a blog. I've read it a couple of times..." Annabeth was practically talking to herself. She tucked her hair behind her ear like she does when she's nervous.

"Anyway," Zeus said impatiently. "We can chitchat later. Right now, we have something very, very serious to discuss."

"Hold on just a freaking second, here," Max exclaimed, startling everyone. "You can't just drag us out here, invite us to tea, and expect us to listen to you without even knowing who you are!"

My eyebrows rose. They didn't know yet? _Well. _ I could just picture it. 'Umm, we're gods and goddesses. The ones from Greek mythology? Yeah, that's us.' Now, that's one bomb I refuse to drop.

"I assure you Maximum," Athena said. "You know us. Not personally, but you know us. You must have heard of us...or...read about us."

"Are you celebrities?" the dark-skinned girl – Nudge – asked. Her eyes were wide and hungry. She was bouncing up and down; her curls jumping in the process.

Apollo smirked. "I sort of am," he said. I laughed.

"This is not the time!" Zeus roared.

Everyone grew silent. When Zeus had regained his wits, he cleared his throat. "We've been very vague, I know. To all of you. But the thing is, we need you."

"Need us?" I asked. "What? Like...is this a quest?"

"Sir?" I added, when I'd gotten no response.

"Quest? What are you talking about?" the Gasman said. _Gasman. Ha! What an awesome name. This kid totally gets cool points in my book. _

"Sort of, Percy," my father said. "But...we'll get to that later."

"In short," Hades broke in. "We need you to save the world. Again."

_Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that. _

_

* * *

_**Well? How was it this time? Personally, I think I did...okay. I hope I did better than that though. I know I haven't given any details yet; but I'm just introducing the story, so hang in there and keep reading, okay? In my opinion, I used the words: nod and smile too much. What did you think?**

**Reviews! Please!**

**-Dorky out!  
**


	3. Halfbreeds Unite

**A/N: **Sorry it took me kind of long to post this. I suffered from writer's block. So if it's terrible, I'm uber sorry. Also, I'm in Singapore with my cousins, so I don't have much time to write. But your reviews made me so ridiculously happy that I just HAD to. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Special thanks to Bee for helping me with the ideas. She practically made half (or more) of the plot! If you guys have a tumblr, follow her: .com. And follow me too: .com. I'll follow back.

Oh, did anyone catch the latest episode of Glee? I'm not sure whether I like Jesse or not...

Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Maximum Ride or the Flock. If I did, I would party would them all day long. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. If I did, I would play pinochle with Mr. D. I do not own Hercules. Although the references to Meg in the story was intentional. He-he.

**

* * *

Max**

_"In short, we need you t_ _o save the world. Again."_

The freaky dark dude had scared the living heck out of me. His words didn't really surprise me, but gosh, I was tired of people taking advantage of us to do their dirty work. They always end up stabbing us in the back. There was no way I could trust this guy. Even if his jacket looked like Fang's.

"Don't you think you ought to explain things first? Or, introduce yourselves? You know, before we..." Jeb trailed off, looking at the man in the pinstriped suit. He was holding his head in his hands, massaging his temples. "Sir?" Jeb continued when the man didn't move.

_Okay. WTH? Why does everyone keep calling him sir? What is he? Like...King of the World or something?_

_You could say that, Max._

I was about to question my Voice further when the man finally looked up. His stormy eyes were focused on me. "How much do you know about Greek mythology, Maximum?"  
_  
Okay. What is it with people calling me Maximum?  
_

"We've watched Hercules," Nudge said. "The Disney one."

"Oh yeah," Angel smiled. "Meg was my favorite! She died for Hercules!"

Before the youngest member of the Flock could say more, the gray-eyed woman spoke up. "But I trust you know the basics, right? The gods and goddesses? The myths?"

"I don't understand why this is important," my mom said. I love her. Without having to read my mind, she totally gets me. She looked just as confused as I felt.

Jeb was looking at his hands. He knew what they were talking about. I wanted to punch him; but that's pretty common so...

Ignoring my mom's remark, the woman continued. "Do you know Athena? The goddess of wisdom and battle?" Her voice was soft, but firm. She was trying to make us understand. But...what was there to understand? Her eyes met Angel's, her gaze intense. For a second, they just stared at each other.

Angel gasped. And her eyes widened. "Athena," she whispered. _Okay, __wha?_

But the woman leaned back in her chair, satisfied. She nodded at the man in the suit.

_Angel? What is going on? What did she tell you? Hello?_

Angel smiled, her eyes were wide. _Max, the gods and goddesses..._

_What about them?_

_They're them._

Okay, is it just me or did that last sentence make no sense?

_Max._

Oh. Well, maybe the Voice will make more sense. _Like the voice ever makes sense. Ha!_

_Yes?_

_Listen to Angel._

_She's not exactly in the right state of mind right now. Maybe you should explain, Einstein. _I rolled my eyes. The Voice was being exceptionally thick today._  
_

_These people _are_ the gods._

I've heard a lot of crazy things in my life, but so far, this was the most far out. I looked at the people again. No freaking way. And yet, in a weird, twisted way, it sort of made sense. I didn't know them all, but I knew that the gorgeous woman must be Aphrodite. And then the emo dude was probably Hades.

"You're it? Y-you're them?" My voice was shaking, which is _so _not like me. Usually, I'm Little Miss Sassy and Sarcastic. But you can't blame me for being a little shell-shocked.

I looked at my Flock. All of them had WTH? looks on their faces. Well, all of them minus Angel and Fang. Angel already knew. _Again, the perks of being a six-year-old mind reader. _Fang's face was as expressionless as always. And if you didn't know him as well as I did, or if you didn't pay close attention, you would have totally missed the slight twitching of his eyebrows.

I shook my head and faced the man in the suit. _The King of the World. _

"Do you understand now?" he asked me, his eyes were full of hope. Hope and impatience. _Well, dude. This is a lot to process, okay? Give me a flipping minute. _

"I think I do," I said. Then something registered in my mind. My cheeks flushed red and I gulped. "So, you must be Zeus."

* * *

**Percy**

I tried not to roll my eyes the kids gape at the Olympians. Then they looked at Grover and Chiron.

"You're a satyr, aren't you?" Gasman asked. I wondered how he knew what a satyr was.

"Dude, are you like Phil? You know, the satyr who trained Hercules?" Iggy asked. Oh right. They watched Hercules. Not that Hercules was anything like us.

"Sort of, I guess," Grover blushed. "I can play the reed pipes too."

"Wicked awesome," Gasman said. He slapped a high five with Iggy. For a blind kid, it was amazing how he didn't miss.

The gods and goddesses each introduced themselves. I won't bore you with the details (partly because they're pretty useless and mostly because I forgot them).

"Well, it's been fun but can we get back to business? We're supposed to save the world again?" Fang deadpanned. Gods, this guy was intense. "How?"

"Right," my dad said. He rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat, probably preparing for a long speech. "Well," he began. "Jeb can explain." He faced Jeb and arched a brow.

Oh, wow. Talk about fail, dad. No offense.

Angel giggled. She probably read my mind. _Great._

Jeb nodded at my father and faced us – me, Annabeth, Grover, and the Max pack. That's right. I'm calling them the Max pack. Got a problem with that? Angel giggled again. _Ahh! Get out of my mind!_

Jeb's voice snapped me out of my reverie. "We've been monitoring the earth's condition and the changes after the air shows you've been doing." He was referring to the Max pack.

"There's been some trouble in a few volcanic islands in different locations of the world."

Did he just say volcanic islands? My mind flashed to a memory from when I was younger.

From under the table, I felt someone kick me. _What the Hades?_

Annabeth was glaring at me (so was Hades, FYI). "What was that for?" I demanded.

"You said 'Calypso'," Angel said.

I blinked and my mouth formed an 'O' of comprehension. "Out loud?"

Annabeth nodded. Her gray eyes were murderously scary. I felt myself blush.

Jeb clapped his hands to get our attention again. "Originally I'd only intended for Max and the Flock to help."

Oh. They were called the Flock. Why the heck would they be called the Flock?

"We'll show you later," Angel said, smiling. _Creepy._

"But well..." Jeb stopped, unsure how to continue. Finally, he regained his wits and went on. "I did a little research. A few weeks ago, in New York, there were some unexplained..._occurrences_."

I grinned. He was talking about the Olympian War. We'd saved the world while the citizens of New York were asleep – under Morpheus's spell. We'd wrecked a few buildings and destroyed some cars in the process. The Mist usually helps with demigod-related situations, but that had been slightly trickier.

"I read about them in the news and did a little research. My findings brought me to the Empire State Building. There, I figured it out. Or, rather, I managed to."

"You mean, about the Olympians and Greek mythology and everything?" I asked.

"Exactly. So, I got a little suspicious. A few months, or around a year ago, there was a massive volcanic eruption in Washington. Have you ever heard of Mt. Saint Helens?"

I sank lower in my seat, knowing full well that it was my fault. I looked at Annabeth. Her eyes were focused on Jeb. She was ignoring me. Grover gave me a sympathetic smile. They knew.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Yeah, that was my fault."

"Your fault?" Jeb looked confused, but after a moment, he shrugged it off as nothing. "Anyway, my theory is that the trouble we're experiencing now is somehow related to whatever happened back then. Meaning, it's not just about us," he was looking at Max.

Then he turned to me. "We need you too. We need people from your world."

Right.

"So let me get this straight," Max said. "At first, you were just going to have us check up on those islands. But then, you played God and did research and blah blah and you found these guys. Now, you think that whatever is going on is related to them? So now, you want us to work together?"

"Right," Jeb said. "Exactly."

"Hold on," Annabeth said. "Why would this have anything to do with us? I mean, volcanic activity is common enough. You don't think that..." Her voice was so soft I could hardly hear her. Her eyes were wide and wet with tears threatening to spill.

"No, we're not saying that it's Kronos," Zeus said, trying to calm her down. "He's gone, for now anyway. But it's highly likely that the other Titans are trying to make a comeback."

Oh. That didn't even cross my mind. I'm pretty slow. But the possibility that one of the Titans was able to survive sent shivers down my spine. We'd lost too many campers and centaurs and _mortals_ to fight again.

"We just want you to make sure," Athena said.

Annabeth nodded, and bit her lip. I reached for her hand under the table, and she took mine willingly. Thank gods, she wasn't ignoring me anymore.

"Okay," Iggy said. "Two questions. One: what makes you think we'll do it? And two: what's so special about you guys?"

Well, I was stumped.

"Remember your destiny, Max. This could be it," Jeb said. Max bit her lip.

_Destiny? What? Did she like, have a prophecy too?_

Something about these kids was really bizarre. Maybe they were secret agents. Gods, that would be awesome.

Max closed her eyes and nodded. After a while, she spoke. "What about Iggy's second question? What's so special about you?"

I gave her a half-smile. "We're demigods."

"What's that?" Gasman asked.

"It means we're half-bloods," I said. "Half-god and half-mortal."

Nudge's eyes grew wide. "ZOMG!" She said. "You mean, like in the movie?"

"Sort of," I said, embarrassed. "Not really." I was pretty sure the heroes in the movies didn't have ADHD or dyslexia.

"Cool," Gasman said. "We're not completely human either."

Max flashed him a look and he quickly shut up.

"Never mind."

But Annabeth caught on quickly. "It's true, then ? That you really...?" Her voice was amazed all over again.

_Ugh. Seriously!_ What was it about these freaking kids? I was beginning to feel desperately out of the loop. Not. Cool.

Finally, unable to keep quiet for longer, I blurted out, "What is it about you guys that makes _you _so cool?"

Everyone was looking at me. Nice. "Umm... What I meant was..."

Angel looked excited. Nudge was grinning. "Well?" she asked. "Do we show them?"

"I don't think we have enough space," Max said. She looked nervous and she kept glancing around, as if expecting a surprise attack. Paranoid, much?

"Go ahead, Max," Jeb encouraged. She ignored him and faced Dr. Martinez. "Well?"

Dr. Martinez smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

Max took a deep breath and stood up. She took off her windbreaker and my jaw dropped. Annabeth squealed. "Oh my gods," she murmured, bringing her hands up to her mouth.

"We're 98% human, and 2% bird," Angel explained. "We're not _completely _human, like you!"

_Yeah, but we look human, _I thought.

I nodded dumbly as I stared at Max's _wings_.

Yeah, you heard me. The Max pack had wings.

* * *

**Max**

I proudly opened my wings and watched as Percy's jaw dropped. The pretty girl, Annabeth – the one who knew about Fang's blog – smiled. I was suddenly embarrassed. I hated being looked at. I folded my wings and tucked them in against my back before sitting down again.

My cheeks were still flushed and I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"How...?" Percy asked, barely making sense. "But then... Does that mean that your parents had... Birds? And...?"

"We'll get to that later," Jeb said impatiently. "Now, I'd like to know how soon you can leave."

An awkward silence filled the room. I felt weird.

"We don't really have anything to do," Fang said, surprising me. Lately, he'd been talking a lot. "So we can leave as soon as you're okay." He nodded at Percy.

Percy looked at Poseidon. "Er...right. Actually, I just need to grab a couple of stuff from my cabin and I'm good to go. Well, I'll have to talk to Tyson, and all but...yeah."

"Excellent," Jeb said. "I have the information you need here. Annabeth, is it?"

Annabeth nodded.

"I think you're pretty capable, so I'll entrust you with one of the maps. Max, take the other one."

I picked up the piece of paper and looked at it for about a second before putting it down again. I closed my eyes and sighed. Less than half an hour ago, I found out that Greek mythology was real. Now, here I was, off on another _adventure. _My initial thought was to refuse, but when Jeb had mentioned my destiny, I changed my mind.

If this was my shot to actually _save _the world, then I'd take it. Heck yeah, I'd take it.

I realized Jeb had been talking to us and giving out more instructions. I hadn't been paying attention.

_It's okay, Max. He just said we needed to split into groups. There are three islands, apparently._

I smiled at Angel. _Thanks, sweetie. _She smiled back.

We hadn't been getting along lately, so I was glad to have a reason to feel close to her again.

"Well," I said, feeling the blood rushing to my brain. "Where to now?"

Percy glanced sideways at Annabeth and she nodded, smiling. "Home," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"We're going to Camp Half-blood."

* * *

**A/N2: **Oh my gosh. It's terrrible. I know. I'm sorry. I promise I'll try and make the next one better!

Reviews and constructive criticism are highly appreciated!

Thanks!

-Dorky out!


	4. Mission Impossible? Maybe Not

**A/N: **Sorry this took so long guys! Dudes. Your reviews are so wicked awesome. Okay, school starts in like one week so I'm making the most of my last days of freedom. I'll try posting one or two more chapters this week. Keyword: TRY. But hey, if you guys keep reviewing, I won't have a choice!

Also, this chapter goes out to: iBubble and My-Toxic-Wings.

Tumblr, anyone? I'm pursuitofdorkyness. Okay, now...ENJOY!

P.S. GLEE FINALE IS THIS WEEK. OHMYGOSH. OHMYGOSH.

**

* * *

Percy**

I looked around my cabin, sighing. I'd been on quests before. But never anything like this. When Max showed us her wings, I almost fainted. I didn't though. I still had my dignity, after all. Besides, being a demigod, I was used to bombs (figuratively _and _literally) being dropped on me.

"Going to miss you," Tyson sniffled.

I smiled at him. "Aww, come on, Tyson. You'll be fine." I hugged my brother and stepped back. Annabeth hugged him too.

"Take care," he said, waving at us as we left the cabin.

"You all packed?" Annabeth asked. I could see her Yankees cap tucked into her pocket. I had Riptide in the pocket of my bag.

"Yeah, I think so."

I smiled briefly at her as we made our way back towards Half-blood hill. It was around eleven in the evening. There were only a few campers awake. We passed by the forest and I saw Grover hugging Juniper.

I waved at him. We had to go. We had to leave before any of the other campers woke up. Chiron said that our quest wasn't going to be 'publicized'. We couldn't afford to make the other campers worry.

When we reached the hill, the Flock was waiting.

"God, what took you so long?" Max asked. She was standing at the bottom of the hill with her arms crossed.

I arched a brow. "That was like, five minutes."

"Whatever."

"So," Fang said, suddenly appearing at Max's side. _What the heck? He wasn't there a second ago._

"You'll get used to it," Angel chimed in.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Gods, she was a freaky child. Her name was seriously misleading.

"That's what Max says," she replied.

"Stop doing that!" I said, waving my hands in the air. "It's freaky."

Everyone stared at me.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Anyway, I believe Fang was trying to say something. Fang?"

"Well," he said. "What's the plan?"

It took me a second to realize that all eyes were on me. "Umm..." I looked at Max. She was the leader, right?

"Don't look at me," she said, raising her hands in defense. "This is your turf. So...what's it gunna be, Sherlock?"

"Right," I said. "Uh...I don't exactly have a plan."

My face felt hot. For the first time in a long time, I felt dumb again. "Look, I know you must think that I'm important and all...because of whatever Jeb told you. But I'm not. I've got ADHD. I'm dyslexic. I could get us killed."

"Well, I can't say any better for myself," Max said. "I'm not really the planning type. I just..._do_, you know?"

Oh boy, did I know. ADHD, remember?

"Actually," Annabeth said. "I have something in mind."

I faced her and smiled. I should have known. A daughter of Athena always has a plan.

"So, let's hear it."

* * *

**Max**

We all watched Annabeth. She fidgeted with her hands and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She seemed nice... and smart. I just wasn't sure if she was tough enough.

"Well, there are three islands. And there are nine of us. If we go all together, it could take us months to dig out anything."

She paused, looking at each of us; waiting for someone to interrupt. When no one did, she continued.

"But if divide into groups of three, we can take one island each. And we could meet at a common spot after. It's still going to take some time, but it won't be as long. And besides, it wouldn't make sense for all of us to go together. We could ju—"

"Hold on!" I argued. "We're not splitting up." My tone was firm. And my decision was final. I was never splitting up my Flock again. "There is no way I'm separating my Flock. If you want, we can take one island and you three can take another. Then we can just meet up at the last one."

"That's not really sensible," Annabeth countered. "The whole point of bringing us together – your Flock, me, Percy and Grover – was because we need each other. If you could have done this on your own, Jeb wouldn't have come to the Olympians about this."

I clenched my jaw. So Annabeth was stubborn? Well, guess what? I was stubborn too.

I opened my mouth to argue, but Fang interrupted me. "How were you thinking of dividing us?"

I gaped at him. _What the Fang? Since when did he talk? _

He ignored me, his eyes focused on Annabeth.

"Well," she said, looking at each of us. "We need one of us in each group so I thought, Percy, Fang and Nudge in one group; Max, Angel and I in another; and then Iggy, Gazzy and Grover."

"Wow," Iggy said. "Congrats on memorizing all our names."

I rolled my eyes. Annabeth looked hopeful. I almost felt bad for her. "No," I said.

Annabeth looked at Percy for help. He shrugged. "We can't force them to do anything."

"I think it's a good idea."

Okay. Seriously. What is up with Fang?

"What?" I asked.

Fang shrugged. "It makes sense, Max."

"Who are you and what have you done with Fang?"

He gave me a heart-melting half-smile. I would have agreed right then, but I still had my dignity to uphold. "What if something bad happens to one of us? How will the others know?" I had to know. I couldn't stand the thought of one of my family getting hurt.

"Ahh," Annabeth smiled. "Fang, do you have a laptop?"

Okay, random question much?

"Uh...yeah, he does," I answered. "Why?"

"I have one too. I know it sounds too easy but...we could just...chat. Every night we could give each other updates."

"Umm, Annabeth," Grover said. "We'll be on _possibly _deserted islands. Don't you think that sounds a bit far-fetched?"

"Actually," Nudge said. "Our laptop gets internet access anywhere."

Grover blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, we stole it."

"Sounds solid," Fang said.

"Wait," I interrupted, realizing something. "What about Iggy's group? How are we supposed to know if anything happens to them?"

"Easy," Percy said. "See, Grover and I have this umm..._connection_. It's called an empathy link. We can read each other's thoughts and umm...feel emotions...and stuff."

Well, did you hear that? What's next? They can spew out Spidey powers using their hands? I wouldn't be surprised.

_This is serious, Max._

_I get that. But if you haven't realized by now, humor is my coping mechanism. _

The Voice didn't respond and I shook my head. "How are we going to get there? We can fly. What about you guys?"

"I got this," Percy said. He whistled and we waited for something to happen.

...And then there was an awkward silence.

And then suddenly, three flying horses landed right in front of us. It was insane. But I'd seen weirder things. Specifically being a group of radioactively mutated fish-things.

Percy grinned at them. "Everyone, this is Blackjack...and his friends."

We all stared. It was pretty dang awesome, I'll admit. But then the truth dawned on us.

"Is this it, then?" Nudge asked. She bit her lip.

"I guess so."

"When will we see each other again?"

I frowned. "I don't know," I said, giving her an encouraging smile.

The rest of the Flock assembled in front of me and we formed a circle. "Okay, good luck guys. Try not to die."

We stacked fists. My heart was aching.

I felt like crying. The last time we'd been apart, I almost died. Fang pulled me away from the others.

"Be careful," he said, cupping my face.

I laughed. "Ditto."

He leaned in and kissed me. I felt dizzy. I wanted time to just freeze right then. I wanted to stay in my little bubble of happiness. How many fourteen-year-olds have to worry about saving the world, anyway? Life really is a jerk sometimes.

Gazzy cleared his throat. "If you two are done eating each other's faces off, we kind of have a mission."

My cheeks flushed and I let go of Fang's hand.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Percy giving Annabeth a hug. He ran his fingers through her hair before turning away. I knew there was something about them. When I reached her, she was already on her flying horse.

"Ready?" Annabeth asked.

I sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I looked at Angel. "I'm okay," she said.

Then I looked at the rest of my Flock: Fang was talking to Percy, looking at the map they'd been given. Nudge was petting Percy's horse. Iggy and Gazzy were teaching Grover some sort of handshake. I smiled. For a second, I saw my Flock dead. In my mind. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. I needed some sort of security. A promise. And then inspiration struck.

I'm not a believer in God. I've only prayed once in my life. But this time, I asked him – God – to take care of my family; including my mom and Ella. Then I prayed for Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Then, surprising myself, I prayed for Jeb. I don't know why. I did it on impulse. He seemed like the kind of guy who needed guidance in his life.

Once we were all prepared, I took a deep breath. "Okay guys, up and away."

* * *

Jeb watched the group leave. He hadn't expected them to split up. But it wasn't like it mattered anyway. It wouldn't make a difference.

The assistant made a grunting sound and he nodded towards the door. Jeb stood up and followed him. The language barrier was a problem. Ancient Greek was not part of Jeb's forte.

He was led into a dark room. There was a chair in the center. Jeb felt shivers run up and down his spine. He knew who was in the seat. Or rather, _what _was in the seat. It wasn't human. Not anymore. The war had left him...damaged.

"Well?" His voice was raspy and soft.

Jeb cleared his throat. "Everything is going according to plan."

"Good."

When Jeb had left, He was alone. The pain was unbearable. He was practically mortal. Their defeat had led to his downfall. Rejoining Kronos had been a gamble. He had known that. But he'd never counted on them losing the battle. Now he was paying for it all. He was in hell. But he would have to endure. Because soon, he would come back to life. And he would never step down again.

* * *

**A/N2: **Hey y'all! Okay. It's kind of short and it's mostly a filler chapter. But HEY! That last part was intense, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight? Oooh! Ahh! Right. Now, see that little button down there? No, I'm not forcing you to review, but I'd REALLY appreciate it if you did. :)

Songs you ought to listen to: Drops of Jupiter, Hey Soul Sister (both by Train); Loose Lips (by Kimya Dawson).


	5. Percy Goes MIA

**A/N: **Aww. OKAY. You guys are going to kill me, I know. BUT BEFORE YOU DO. Please read Chapter Five. And tell me if it sucks. But dear mercy, I hope it doesn't. I don't know if you're interested in my excuses (school, first love. HAHA. as if!) but i hope with every fiber in my being that you're still interested in this story. Merry Christmas everyone. :) Enjoy your New Year.

* * *

My feet landed on sand as I hopped off Blackjack. Seconds later, Fang and Nudge landed behind me. We had been flying for over three hours and I could tell they were exhausted.

"Why don't you two go ahead and rest. I'm going to check out the island and try to find a place we can stay. Looks like we'll have to spend the night here," I said.

Nudge nodded before collapsing onto the sand. I faced Fang and half-expected him to contradict me but he just shrugged. So I began walking away from the shore.

The rest of the island was separated from the shore. It took me around forty seconds to reach it. The first thing I saw was a coconut tree. And it's not because I was fricken starving (which I was, btw). The tree was bent at an odd angle facing the center of the island. I frowned. Something didn't seem right. Trusting my instincts, I grabbed a stone lying near my feet and threw it at the tree. Immediately after collision, the tree snapped into its proper place. If I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed anything different. But I heard something snap when the stone had hit the trunk of the tree.

Carefully, I moved closer, allowing myself some distance from the tree, just in case. Thank gods I did because as I examined the tree, I saw a rope dangling from the side. If I had just walked forward, I would have been left hanging upside down, tied by my ankle. We were not alone on this island. Quickly, my hand reached into my pocket and I gripped Riptide tightly.

I turned away from the tree and moved on. Before long though, the foliage became too thick for me to pass through. Almost like a wall of flora, keeping something out. Or maybe keeping something in. Either way, now was not the time to check it out. Before I left, I passed by the tree again, and using Riptide, I cut off the rope. "For later," I muttered to myself. Just as I rolled it into a ball, a coconut fell from the top of three and landed on my toe. _Crap. _Being the paranoid stud that I am, I looked all around me to make sure no one had seen my moment of weakness. Thankfully, I was alone. _Or so I thought._

* * *

I made my way back to Fang and Nudge and I was surprised to see that they had managed to light a fire. They were smiling when I returned and they seemed much happier than when I had left them.

"Hey, Percy," Nudge called out. "How was the exploration?"

"Uh, not so good," I answered, scratching the back of my neck with the hand that wasn't holding the coconut.

"What's that?" Fang asked.

"Dinner," I smirked, tossing it in his direction.

"Ahh," he said. "Coconut. Mmm. Gourmet for us, eh?"

Nudge giggled and I laughed as well. Who knew he had a sense of humor? Using a rock, he cracked open the coconut and we all took turns sipping the juice and eating the meat. My mind flashed back to a year or two earlier, when I had been stranded on an island as well. I felt a slight pang in my stomach and for a moment I wished we were on the same island. I shook it off quickly and woke from my reverie when I realized that Fang was talking to me.

"What?" I said stupidly, with coconut milk dribbling down my chin.

"What happened?" he repeated.

"Oh," I said. "We're not alone." As soon as the words left my mouth, it hit me, what I had just said.

"What?" Nudge asked, her brown eyes, wide.

"There was a trap. That's how I got the coconut. And this," I pointed at the rope I had tossed to the side.

"Well, crap," Fang said. "Who do you think they are?"

"No idea," I said, shrugging. "But we'd better stay here the night, near the shore and then check out the rest of the island tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess," Fang said. "But do you really think that we should stay here? Out in the open?"

"We don't have a choice," I muttered.

"What was that?"

I looked at them both. They were watching me intently. "That's the other thing," I said. "It's like the island is…sealed in. Like, the plants form this sort of wall around whatever's in the center of the island. I don't know."

"Can't we cut through the plants?" Nudge asked, sucking on a piece of coconut meat.

"I think so but it's better if we wait until morning. We don't want to risk anything," I said.

The air grew thick with tension and I swear I could hear my own heartbeat. I think in that moment, we all realized just how high the stakes were. When we lay down on the sand, it took me an hour before I was able to doze off properly. I just wish I had never even woken up.

* * *

_His feet kept on walking. Walking. Crunching on sand. Until they weren't on sand anymore. They made a loud, pounding noise as they met cold steel instead of the gravel of the island. He had found something. At first, he was walking, looking into a door. The other side of the door wasn't visible, only his back, facing it. And then suddenly, he was no longer there. It barely made a sound as the little dart hit him in the neck and he fainted. Then everything went black._

* * *

Grover woke up, gasping and panting for air. He was sweating and the back of his neck hurt like hell. He felt it and there was nothing different. But dang those dreams could be realistic as heck. That was the tough thing about these empathy links. The thought of the empathy link woke him up.

"Dude, what?" Iggy asked, sitting up next to him. He was yawning. Grover didn't answer at first. He was shaking with fear. For a blind kid, Iggy was impressively attentive and observant. "Grover, what is it?"

"It's Percy. It's almost as though our empathy link has been shut off. I think he's…_gone."_

* * *

**A/N: **Dude. SO? WAJATHINK THIS TIME? :) Reviews are greatly appreciated, loves. ;)

I apologize for any errors. ALSO! THE EMPATHY LINK. From what I recall reading, if one dies, then the other one dies as well. (I THINK?) anyway. There's no need to worry. Percy shall be fine. Or shall he? :) Nyahaha.

- Dorky out!


	6. I OWE YOU GUYS

Okay. Hi. *takes a moment to dodge your arrows and knives and fists* I know I know I know. I am the worst human being on the planet for not updating this. But I will. I don't know if you guys care about my reasons for not writing, but I just got really busy. And I had a major case of writer's block. I'm back now though. And it'll take a while for me to get this story going again, because I'll have to brush up on my knowledge of these stories, on what I had planned for the plot...so if you could all just hang in there with me, I promise that I'll do my best to do this story and the amazing characters and you, the awesome supporters, justice.

You'll hear from me soon.


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